Calais Children: A Case to Answer
- Submitting institution
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Goldsmiths' College
: A - Media, Communications and Cultural Studies (MCCS)
- Unit of assessment
- 34 - Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management : A - Media, Communications and Cultural Studies (MCCS)
- Output identifier
- 1924
- Type
- Q - Digital or visual media
- Publisher
- -
- Month
- June
- Year
- 2017
- URL
-
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- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Calais Children is a documentary on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) based on extensive participatory action research (2016-17) in the Calais Jungle refugee camp. The practice/research process sought to understand the subjective experience of migrancy and use film to encourage UASC to express their histories and challenges. This involved engaged first-hand narratives with subjects, then discussing with Public Law solicitors how these can be used to challenge governments in breach of their own laws and international human rights protocols._x000D_
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The research insights illustrate that: 1) Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s claim to Parliament that “All children are in a place of safety” was false: The film documents the context of the research with the camp on fire, children homeless, starving and in distress amid sewage, vermin and tear-gas attacks with no UK officials on site; 2) that the asylum assessments that the Home Office conducted in France were done in minutes with no evidence considered, no translator present, and no written decision provided: this was ruled in the Judicial Review to be unlawful; 3) that the Home Office repeatedly changed its criteria for accepting UASC under the Dubs Amendment but did not communicate the criteria to these parties; 4) that film has an evidential and affective quality enabling its effective use in a High Court challenge._x000D_
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Clayton’s practice/research also pioneers intensive audience engagement. She attended most of the 300+ screenings at schools, colleges, churches, mosques and synagogues; film, arts and academic festivals. It also screened in refugee camps, UNHCR headquarters and UK Parliamentary committees, and was the subject of a Debate in the House of Lords. Extracts were screened eight times on ITV News and Channel 4 News. A television version is internationally distributed by ARTE (ARTE 2020) and the film has been translated into five languages.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
